UK: Nearly 40 percent of Britain’s small businesses are planning to cut their budgets for advertising and business travel (37 percent) in order to weather the recession, a new survey has found.

The YouGov survey, commissioned by independent electricity supplier Opus Energy, polled over 500 small business owners and managers to discover where they would be cutting back during the current economic downturn. Business travel and advertising spend were top of the list for budget cuts in nearly one in five small businesses (19 percent and 18 percent, respectively).

The survey also found that the larger the company, the more likely it is that staff will face cuts to their bonuses. Indeed, a third (33 percent) of the largest companies surveyed (employing up to 50 people) said that employee bonuses would be the first area they would rein in.

Interestingly, when asked which areas cutbacks were the least likely during recession, a quarter of small businesses (25 percent) were adamant they would not reduce spending on IT. Employees can also rest assured that day to day staff perks were the second least likely area to face cutbacks during difficult times. Sixteen percent of managers vowed not to reduce spending on extras for employees such as biscuits, tea and coffee and entertainment, which can help maintain vital staff morale particularly in a gloomy economic climate.

Andy Nash, Operations Director at Opus Energy said: “While some value can be had from trimming excess spending on business travel and advertising budgets, it is surprising that a review of utility bills does not appear higher up the list. Only 3 percent of small businesses said they would review their gas or electricity tariffs in order to make business savings. This widely overlooked area can provide vital savings for companies and make more of an impact on their bottom line than other areas. Indeed, Carbon Trust research shows that simply monitoring energy efficiency in the workplace could help companies save over 12 percent on their bills."